• NBA.Why do you stand against racism?

Finally, the NBA will have a 2020 champion, although it will forever be a historic edition and not only because of the unprecedented Disney World bubble in which the playoffs are played due to the coronavirus pandemic. There will be a before and after the decision that the Milwaukee Bucks made on Wednesday, not just anyone, one of the great favorites in the ring, to spearhead the rest, not to appear in their first-round meeting against the Magic. To say enough, forgetting any sports consequence, against what they consider an abuse that exceeds all limits, the systemic racism that again had a chapter of police brutality with the shooting in Kenosha, precisely in Wisconsin (Bucks state), of Jacob Blake . Seven shots in the back that once again scandalized the country.

After the rest of the games were also canceled, there were even fears for the survival of these playoffs, whose main reason for returning was precisely to serve as a loudspeaker for the social demands of some players who had been especially involved in the protests by George Floyd's murder weeks earlier. Many of them, totally frustrated by what was happening, had decided to pack their bags and leave the Disney premises. The two Los Angeles teams, the Lakers and the Clippers, even voted in favor of this position, and LeBron James was especially belligerent. But the hours tempered bagpipes and in the meeting held on Thursday morning they decided to continue with the baskets -the weekend the competition will resume, adjusting the calendar with the matches that have not been played, not those on Thursday-, although not they will lower the piston of their messages. Quite the opposite.

In the balance of continuity, it was partly weighed that the players have already achieved something of what they wanted. That the debate on social injustices in the United States be put on the table again, that the volume of their protests not be relaxed. Being able to continue playing will make the loudspeaker remain, the flame does not go out, the ball also speaks. In addition, the immense economic effort (more than 150 million dollars invested) and organizational effort made by all parties to launch the Orlando bubble , until now impeccable , had a lot to do with the decision , and that, starting with the semifinals of Conference, the relatives of the players will be able to enter it.

Meetings with the owners

But, in return, the stars will demand that the changes they demand continue to be promoted. On Thursday, two players from each team were present at the meeting with the NBA, in which they put on the table the actions they claim, which they considered had been paralyzed. It was no longer enough with the slogans on their jerseys, with the Black Lives Matter on each playing court or with the knee on the ground of players, coaches and referees every time the American anthem sounded. Nor with the NBA Foundation, where the franchises, in partnership with the players' union, will have the 30 owners contribute a collective sum of $ 30 million annually over 10 years in funding to support racial equality and social justice within the black community. They wanted even more involvement.

«When we arrived, we had a very clear objective of raising the notoriety of this situation, using our loudspeaker so that people would notice and mediate the situation. The problem is very deep and our reactions are not being responded to with actions outside of here. That generates frustration, "summarized Marc Gasol in statements to Movistar.

In any case, everything achieved these days by NBA players is historic. Sport as the engine of social change. Thus, the protests, following the boycott of Wednesday's games in the NBA, quickly spread to other professional sports in the United States . The WNBA, MLB Baseball or MLS soccer also canceled games. They also stopped the NFL workouts. In tennis, the Japanese Naomi Osaka decided not to play the semifinal of the Cincinnati tournament against the Belgian Elise Mertens. The organization had to postpone the competition one day.

LeBron James was one of the first to react publicly. "Changes are not achieved just by talking, for this you have to act and you have to do it now," he asked on his social networks before the key meeting with the owners.

Shortly after, Donald Trump , the target of all criticism, made ironic about the NBA, about its little impact and its audiences, and accused it of being a "political organization." "That is not good, it is not good for the sport or for the country," concluded the US president.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • U.S
  • George Floyd
  • sports

NBA 2019 - 2020The NBA explodes by a new police attack on a black man: "Fuck the playoffs!"

NBA 2019 - 2020 Interview with Sergio Scariolo: "In Spain the scope of the racial problem has not been perceived"

NBA 2019 - 2020Why does the NBA stand up against racism?

See links of interest

  • Last minute
  • Spanish translator
  • Programming
  • 2020 calendar
  • Horoscope today
  • League classification
  • Santander League Calendar
  • Movies Today
  • Topics